Officials confirmed Wednesday that hot oil left on a stove sparked the fire. The adult who left it there stepped out for a while, leaving the girl in the duplex upstairs.

"I have my beautiful daughter right beside me, Shania, and I'm very happy that we're together right now," said the girls' mother, Wendy Fife.

Witnesses said they could hear that the girl was inside.

"The little girl was hollering, 'Fire! Fire! My house is on fire!'" witness Trisha Roberts said.

Before firefighters arrived, David Roberts, who was visiting his sister, sprang into action.

"When I saw the black smoke, I'm like, she's got to get out of there ASAP, because that black smoke, if she starts sucking that in, she's going to be unconscious within minutes," he said.

David Roberts leaped over a chain link fence and yelled for a ladder. As his friend steadied a six-foot ladder that a neighbor found, he climbed to the top, broke the bottom of the window and pulled the girl out.

"She was really nervous because she's like, 'I can't do this. I can't do this,' and I'm like 'Yes you can. I've got you. Don't worry. I'm not going to let go of you,'" David Roberts said.

He and his friend got her down and then walked her to emergency crews arriving out front.

"They probably made the difference of that girl living," Lt. Sean Houle said.

"I was just there at the right time, right place," David Roberts said. "I would've done it for anybody."

Shania and her mother are staying in temporary housing. Their pet parrots were killed, but firefighters were able to rescue their dog, who is in guarded condition at a local veterinarian.

"We're praying, but all I can say is thank God for David Roberts," Fife said. "He's a hero to me for saving my daughter's life."